parental involvement as a form of social capital in a...

International Journal of Arts and Sciences 3(11): 321 - 345 (2010)

CD-ROM. ISSN: 1944-6934 © InternationalJournal.org

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Parental Involvement as a Form of Social Capital in a Japanese Elementary School Melvin Allena Jabar, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan Abstract: This study examines parental involvement in a Japanese elementary school in the context of social capital theory discourses. It is part of an on-going doctoral dissertation on bicultural children’s educational experiences and outomes. Data for this paper were drawn from a 5-month field work in a Japanese elementary school. This paper describes the various school activities, programs and norms aimed at enhancing parental involvement in children’s education. To mobilize capital resources, the school has initiated programs to ensure that parents and school authorities meet each other’s expectations via school orientation, and school and home visits. The school also requires parents to provide capital resources (economic and material) to support their children’s schooling. School activities such as PTA meetings, undoukai (sports fest), and renrakumou (contact network) allow parents to establish rapport and trust with the school personnel and their fellow parents thereby increasing their social closure (i.e. contacts with other parents) and access to both material and non-material resources. Keywords: parental involvement, Japanese education, social capital theory, children’s schooling, parent-teacher relationship.

Introduction This article aims to examine parental involvement in the context of the Social Capital Theory (SCT). It looks at how the family and school systems, being the children’s immediate social capital (Bassani, 2003), interact to mobilize various resources to facilitate children’s education. This is particularly evident in Japanese elementary education in which parents are given roles and responsibilities as partners in their children’s education. As Moorehead (2007, p.7) puts it, “the Japanese teachers describe a desirable family-school relationship as one that is based on trust, deference, partnership, and cooperation.” In Japan, social capital is referred to as shakai kankei shihon (Nishide, 2009, p.2) or “social relation capital” if literally translated to English. Being Western in origin, SCT is a broad body of knowledge that still needs to be understood in the context of the Asian milieu, particularly in relation to children’s education.



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There are few studies that to some extent examined Japanese education in the context of SCT (Shinshiro, 2009; Bassani, 2001, 2003, 2007). Most studies on the subject, however, investigated parental involvement in relation to non-education issues. In his comprehensive survey of 63 social capital researches in Japan, Nishide (2009) identified several domains or areas in which SCT has been contextualized. These were mostly on community development, politics, agriculture, economy, business and finance, and ICT. Surprisingly, only one literature was related to education but it did not delve into parental involvement (Yamauchi and Ibuki, 2005, as cited in Nishide, 2009). In my own literature survey, I found only 45 journal/conference articles (both in English and Japanese*) related to the application of SCT in Japan and these were not included in Nishide’s volume (2009). These studies were on business and consumers (Yamato and Kanbe, 2009.*; Inoue, 2008*), disaster (Yamamura, 2008; Schellong, 2007; Nakagawa & Shaw, 2004), education (Shinshiro, 2009*; Cheung and Chan, 2008), elderly (Aida et al., 2009; Aihara, 2009; Yoshida, n.d.), environment (Miyata, 2006*; Ishihara and Unai, n.d.*), family (Nozawa, 2008*; Bassani, 2007, 2003, & 2001; Takada, 2006*), health (Aida et.al., 2009; Ichida et al., 2009; Inaba, 2009; Fujisawa et al., 2009; Fujisawa, Hamano, & Takegawa, 2009; Suzuki, et al., in press; Takao, 2009), ICT (Westlund and Calidoni-Lundberg, 2007; Omori and Yonezawa, 2002), Internet (Kobayashi, 2006; Miyata, 2005*), labor and wage (Tsuda, Cornelius, and Valdez, 2003; Brinton, 2000; Broadbent, 2000), politics, democracy, and governance (Senda and Tamamura, 2008*; Freitag, 2003; Kondoh, n.d.), security and safety (Tatsuki and Kim, 2009), social networking (Schellong, 2008; Ikeda and Richey, 2005a; Ikeda and Richey, 2005b), social security (Hamada and Takao, 2008), social stratification (Sato, 2008), theoretical discourses (Sung, 2007; Ishizuka, 2006*; Chang, Cheung, Peng; 2004; Takashi, 2000), and urban planning (Kanai, 2008*). As for studies on parental involvement, I came across only a few studies conducted in Japan. These include parents and community roles (Knipprath, 2005), maternal involvement in preschool children (Yamamoto, Holloway, and Suzuki, 2006), parent involvement as social capital in promoting college enrollment (Yoshida, 2005), parenting self efficacy (Holloway et al., 2005), motherhood and early childhood education (Hirao, 2001), preschool and elementary education (Lewis, 1995), and determinants of parental involvement (Holloway, S., Yamamoto, Y., Suzuki, S., & Mindnich, J., 2008). In the U.S. most of the educational sociology researches on parental involvement are quantitative (e.g. Jeynes, 2005; Goldberg, Greenberger, &



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Nagel, 1996; Sui-Chui and Willms, 1996; and Steinberg, Lamborn & Dornbusch, 1992). There are a few qualitative studies which were aimed at describing the nature of parents’ involvement (e.g. Chrispeels & Rivero, 2001; Cuckle, 1996; and Olmsted, 1991). This research is part of the author’s broader doctoral study on educational experiences of Japanese-Filipino children and its effects/consequences. It examines parental involvement as a form of social capital and the relation of school culture to parental involvement (Griffith, 1998). It seeks to provide insights on how Japanese schools mobilize the social capital of parents to influence children’s educational outcomes. While this report focuses only on one elementary school, the findings of my study can also be applied to elementary schools elsewhere in Japan because of the country’s more or less standardized elementary education systems and practices. Instead of conducting surveys or interviews with parents to elicit information regarding their involvement in their children’s education—which is often the case—my method is different. Written from the perspective of a limited participant-observer in a Japanese elementary school, this paper uses the descriptive method in explaining the existing school strategies that promote parental involvement. The aim is not to examine the extent of involvement but rather to document school activities or practices that require parental presence. It endeavors to answer the following questions: 1. What are the school programs aimed at fostering parental involvement in a Japanese

elementary school? 2. How can the school programs be viewed in terms of social capital? The first section of this paper introduces the readers to the fundamentals of the social capital theory (SCT) and is followed by a discussion on parental involvement. The third section discusses the different school activities intended to foster parental involvement and their relevance to the social capital discourses. Social Capital Theory at a Glance The SCT was popularized in the 80s by Pierre Bourdieu (Burnheim, 2004, p.1; Portes, 2000, p. 2) although the theory itself was already coined in the early 1900s in the educational context (Nishide, 2009). Bourdieu defines social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of



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more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance or recognition” (Bourdieu, 1985, p. 248, as cited in Portes, 1998, p. 3). In other words, the resources one gets from one’s affiliation or membership in a social group manifest the existence of social capital. Based on this definition, there has been a debate about whether or not social capital can be held by an individual as opposed to the popular argument that it should be held within the group (Bassani, 2003). Central to the understanding of social capital theory are the different forms of capital proposed by Bourdieu, namely financial, human, material, and cultural. Financial capital, also known as economic capital (Calhoun, LiPuma, & Postone, 1993, p.5), refers to the monetary resources available to support children’s education (Dijkstra, Veenstra, and Peschar, 2004; Anheier, Gerhards, and Romo, 1995). Human capital refers to the knowledge, skills, and capabilities that a person possesses to be able to help children function as school children. Material capital resources to the learning aids provided to enhance the children’s education (Anheier, Gerhards, & Romo, 1995, p. 862).

Another proponent of SCT is James Coleman whose discourses were made with no reference to Bourdieu’s (Portes, 1998, p. 5). He defines social capital as “the structure of relations between and among actors and is defined by its function” (Portes, 1998, p.5). For example, the parent-teacher association forms the structure of relations and the obligations, duties, and actions they perform define such relationship. Coleman also characterizes social capital into three aspects, namely “obligations and expectations, the information flow capability of the social structure, and the presence of norms with attached sanctions” (Burnheim, 2004, p.3). Putting Coleman’s definition in the context of the teacher-parent relationships (structure of relationship) in Japan, elementary schools expect parents (school expectations) to be active in the parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings (obligation). It is through these meetings that parents are able to get information that will enable them to best help their children in their studies (information flow capability of the structure). Parents are obliged to call the teachers (norm) if their children cannot attend classes regularly. The failure of the parents to inform the school authorities of their child’s long absence from classes may prompt police authorities to visit the family for investigation (sanction).

Two social capital predictors that were recently developed by social scientists are “shared values” and “social interaction”. According to Bassani (2003), shared values are



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treated as a central element of a social structure because it allows members to be connected due to the presence of “trust and obligation.” Social interaction refers to the member’s interaction in a social structure (ibid). Shared values are particularly a crucial element in the parent-teacher relationship in Japan. This social interaction is further strengthened through school programs which fosters parental involvement—the focus of this paper. Defining Parental Involvement The concept of parental involvement is quite broad. For Epstein (1992 cited in Domina, 2005) parental involvement includes keeping children safe, attending children’s activities (see also Scribner, Young, & Pedroza, 1999), and collaborating with community organizations for the purpose of addressing th educational needs of children (p.235). Parental involvement can also mean the “actual or perceived expectations for performance, verbal encouragement or interactions regarding homework, direct reinforcement for academic improvement, and general academic guidance and support” (Keith et al., 1986 in Bempechat, 1992, p. 37). It can also include the parent’s provision of educational resources to children (Grolnick and Slowiaczek, 1994, p.238). Parental involvement is an important area of consideration when one is talking about social capital in children’s education. It is, by itself, a “field” where structural relations (i.e. parents, children and teacher) are manifested and each of these actors function according to their own or other people’s expectations, familial and social norms, and personal and social obligations. Parental involvement, according to Dika and Singh (2002, p.5), plays a crucial role in developing social capital both in and outside the home. As social capital, it constitutes several structures of relationships such as student-parent, parent-teacher, and child-teacher relations (McNeal, 1999, p. 120). Parental involvement comes in different forms, namely investing in educational needs of children (Cheng and Powell, 2007; Drummond and Stipek, 2004), assisting in accomplishing school homework (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Lee and Bowen, 2006; Carreon, Drake, and Barton, 2005; Domina, 2005, Jeynes, 2005), monitoring a child’s progress (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Cervone and O’Leary, 1982), discussing school events and educational matters (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Lee and Bowen, 2006; Jeynes, 2005;), attending/volunteering in school activities (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Lee and Bowen, 2006; Domina, 2005; Carreon, Drake, and Barton, 2005), learning a child’s school work (Carreon, Drake, and Barton,



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2005; Drummond and Stipek, 2004; Crosnoe, 2001; Williams and Chavkin, 1989; Cervone and O’Leary, 1982), and joining in support networks and communicating with other parents (Carreon, Drake, and Barton, 2005; Buchel and Duncan, 1998; Olmsted, 1991; Hester, 1989). In Japan, parental involvement is translated as oya no kanyo. According to Holloway, Yamamoto, Suzuki, and Mindnich (2008), Japanese teachers “make explicit and exacting demands on parents.” In other words, the schools put pressure on parents for them to be involved in their children’s education. This is similar to what Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) explained that the school influences the extent of the parents’ participation in their children’s education (1997). As an example, Mapp (1997) pointed out several factors pivotal to the successful parental involvement program in an elementary school in the U.S., namely: 1) school personnel communicate with parents through activities that will enhance rapport, trust, and belongingness; 2) school personnel show positive reception to parents’ contribution; and 3) school personnel provide an atmosphere for parents to air out their opinions and concerns. Teachers can actually do more to encourage parents to be involved, such as allowing parents to take part in their child’s learning activities at home (Epstein, 1986). This, in other words, implies that the school climate and teacher’s practices can actually discourage or facilitate parental involvement. Some schools, for instance, conduct teacher’s home visits to better inform parents about school procedures. Parents’ knowledge about the school, as provided through home visits and active parental involvement, gives them competence and confidence to help their children with their academic endeavors.

The Method The data for this article were drawn from my five-month (from April to June, September-October 2009) field work in a Japanese elementary school in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, Japan. Oita prefecture is the northeast part of Kyushu Island of Japan. The school has a population of 324 students from 15 classes (kindergarten to grade 6) and 30 school staff. I was hired by the city government as an interpreter for a Japanese-Filipino bicultural child. This opportunity allowed me to become familiar with the Japanese elementary school educational system.



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While reporting for my part-time work at the child’s school, I noted down all my observations using a diary. My fieldwork at the school was intended to provide me with a deeper understanding of Japan’s primary education system and school culture. Aside from the data that I got through my limited-participant observation, I also used document review to supplement my discussion in this article. Documents included school correspondence, announcements, and the school website.

Results and Discussion As mentioned earlier, Japanese schools foster a strong bond between teachers and parents as partners in educating children (Moorehead, 2007). To achieve such partnership, schools have various ways to enhance parental involvement through activities, programs, and norms. The following section deals with the steps which the elementary school took to increase parental participation in relation to children’s education both at home and at school. Results indicate that there are four salient features which the school initiated to increase the social capital of parents, namely sharing of norms and expectations, enhancing involvement through communication, provision of students needs, and school-parent and parent-parent relationships. Sharing of Norms and Expectations As defined by Coleman (1990), social capital is characterized by “obligations and expectations….norms and sanctions.” In other words, in order for a capital to be maximized, actors of structured relations (e.g. parents and schools in home-school relationship) should embrace each other’s expectations, or at least be familiar with it, in order for certain functions and obligations to be fulfilled. However, schools and parents may have different expectations and perceptions about children’s education. These differences may result in parental non-involvement (Griffith, 1998, p. 76). To ensure that parents and school personnel meet each other’s expectations, Japanese schools provide orientation sessions for parents to be aware of their roles as partners in their children’s education. Through this sharing of expectations and values, parents are able to connect with teachers. This is what Bassani (2003) calls “shared values”, which according to her, is a pivotal element or predictor of social capital characterized by trust and obligation. Japanese schools, prior to the start of school year, conduct school orientation for the purpose of leveling off the expectations of parents and the school.



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School Orientation Before the start of the classes, parents of incoming first grade students are obliged to attend the school orientation or the shinnyuugakujidousetsumeikai. Attendance is mandatory because the orientation provides parents with needed information about school norms and policies as well as what to prepare prior to the opening of the new school year (e.g. school supplies and materials for their children). The orientation is usually held every January or February of the year, 2-3 months prior to the opening of the school year. During the orientation, parents are informed about the “dos” and “don’ts” to be observed. Although not formally written, the school pressures parents to actively ensure that their children are doing well academically. Parents are expected to check the renrakucho (contact notebook) and school letters of their children on a regular basis. The school also expects parents to help their children accomplish school work at home and to prepare their school materials. The school requires the parents to inform the teacher if their child will be late for school or will be absent from classes. If the child arrives in school late, the parent must accompany the child. If the child needs to leave ahead of the scheduled dismissal, the parent should fetch their child at school. In cases when parents fail to inform their child’s teacher about the child’s absence, the latter will call the former to ask the whereabouts of the child. Parents are also informed about school prohibitions for students such as: 1) no wearing of earrings, necklace, watch, and bracelets; 2) no bringing of food; 3) no bringing of toys; 4) no bringing of dangerous items; and 5) no bringing of cellular phones. They are asked to monitor the time when their children go back home and sleep. Children should be at home by 5pm and should sleep before 9 pm. Aside from the school orientation, Japanese schools invite parents to visit their children’s school to observe the classes and to acquaint themselves with the classroom lessons. Parents are also encouraged to visit school for a one-on-one consultation with their child’s homeroom teacher should they wish to know the performance and behavior of their children at school.



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Enhancing Involvement through Communication One aspect of social capital is what Coleman (1990) refers to as the information flow capability structure. This implies that, through one’s relations with other people, parents are able to get vital information which will consequently enable them to perform effectively. By communicating with their children’s teachers, parents are able to assist their children in accomplishing school work (see Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Lee and Bowen, 2006; Carreon and Barton, 2005; Domina, 2005, Jeynes, 2005) and monitor their children’s progress (see also Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2007; Cervone and O’Leary, 1982). Through parent-teacher communication, parents are informed about school activities, meetings, and the academic and behavioral challenges and progress of their children. In Japan, parents and teachers communicate either through the correspondence notebook (renrakucho) and school letters (renraku purinto or otegami). School teachers also conduct home visits (kateihomon) to discuss the educational concerns of the child and to look at the child’s home environment. Renrakucho (correspondence notebook) Renrakucho is a very important means of communication between the parents and the teachers. Students use this to note down information pertaining to school events and reminders for parents to be fully aware of the affairs of their children. For example, when the students are required by their teacher to bring coloring materials during a specified date, the students will take note of this so that when they go home they can show this to their parents for appropriate action (i.e. buy or prepare the materials). The students write their homework in this notebook so that the parents can monitor their child’s task accomplishments. The parents are then asked to sign the notebook every day to ensure that they regularly check the school work of their child. The teacher can also utilize such notebook should they have special concerns about the child that the parents should know. One parent showed me her son’s contact notebook. She had some concerns about her son’s academic performance and basketball training in school. As she was not aware of her son’s academic performance, she wrote a letter to the teacher using the contact notebook. Box 1 shows their exchange of messages.



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Box.1 Message exchange btween a mother and a teacher. July 4, 2009 (Saturday) From: Megumi (not her real name), a mother おはようございます。いつもありがとうございます。カタカナの練習もがん

ばってさせます。いまバスケットをさせていますが、授業中に居眠りをしたり、

問題はありませんでしょうか？ありましたら教えてください。よろしくおねが

いいたします。 Good morning. Thanks a lot as always. I am trying my best to force Tarou (not real name) to practice his katakana (a Japanese system of writing). Tarou is attending basketball training. Should this cause him a problem like sleeping inside the class, please let me know. Looking forward to hearing from you. July 6, 2009 (Monday) From: Megumi’s son’s teacher 明日はＰＴＡなので少しでも太郎君のお話が出来ればいいなと思います。バス

ケでつかれていることもありますが、きょうはテストを３まいも金治さん(インタプリタ)頑張りました。 Because there will be a PTA meeting tomorrow, even if it is short, I think it would be nice if we can talk about Tarou if possible. There are times that he is tired from his basketball. Today, we had 3 exams but Kenji-san (interpreter, not his real name) tried his best to help Tarou.

Renraku Purinto or Otegami (School Letters) Each student is also required to have a renraku bukuro (contact envelope). This is a plastic envelope where all the school correspondence for parents are placed. From time to time, the school sends out letters to inform parents about school activities and their possible participation in these activities. During my field work, I managed to secure some copies of the letters shown in Table 1. Table 1.0 Type of documents and their corresponding topics. Type of Document Topic Grade 3 Level Newsletter Invitation to join PTA

Reminders about monthly fees for language test materials; first semester school tuition; sports recreation fees; urine and parasite tests for grade 3 students; request to buy flute and dictionary



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Activities for the month of May School Bulletin Lunch menu for the month of April Letter of Invitation Request to join the food sampling (for the

students’ lunch menu) Letter of Invitation Request to attend a seminar on the safety

use of cell phones and personal computers among students

Letter of Instruction Procedures on how to go about the urine and parasite inspection

Letter of Invitation Call for volunteers to pickup of books from the prefectural library

Kateihomon Kateihomon is a homeroom teacher’s (tannin no sensei) visit to his/her students’ homes to talk with the parents about school concerns and to observe the family environment. In the school where I conducted my field work, the teachers had this activity during the first month of the school year (i.e. April 2009). The homeroom teachers visited all the families of their students. This is mandatory and it is expected that one of the parents will be at home to entertain the teacher. Provision of Students Needs One important feature of social capital is the ability of the actors to access resources through their own network. In the case of the parent and child relationship, parents provide their children different forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1986) such as material (school supplies), cultural (teaching of Japanese arts and music), and economic (money). In other words, children get access to school materials through their parents and their school. Schools enhance parents’ participation by mandating them to provide their children with the material and economic resources to enhance their children’s learning. Learning materials (kyozai) Parents are left with no choice but to provide their children with economic capital in the form of payment, such as in the case of kyozai or learning materials procured by the school on the parents’ behalf. Schools oblige parents to buy the needed school materials because students are discouraged to borrow from each other. School materials, including exam sheets, are not for free. The homeroom teacher (tannin no sensei) will give the collection envelopes (shuukin bukuro) to the students indicating the amount due, which



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the students have to return on or before the due date. School Materials The school provides name tags, caps, textbooks, notebooks, toolboxes, burglar alarms, contact notebooks, and plastic folders for free through the local government education board during the start of the classes. However, the rest of the needed school supplies should be provided by the parents. Parents are expected to provide the following school materials: indoor shoes and bags, raincoats and umbrellas, PE uniforms, lunch aprons, masks and hairnets, hand bags, randoseru (school bag/satchel), lunch mats and bags, cleaning rags, pencils, pens, scissors, erasers, pencil cases, plastic boards, calligraphy kits, paste, crayons and color pencils, rulers, swimming wears, harmonicas, and flutes. Food Tasting One important focus of early education in Japan is the promotion of positive physical health and well-being (Bertram and Pascal, 2002, p.30). This explains why the school provides lunch to children. Every month, the school plans the daily lunch menu, taking into account the appropriate nutritional contents and the requirements of a balanced diet. The parents are required to pay for this through automatic deduction from their bank accounts. In the school I observed, parents can also participate in the food sampling and planning of lunch menus. Last year, the food sampling and nutritional value explanation was scheduled on May 28, 2009. The school sent out invitations to parents so they could participate in the activity. Prior to summer break (from middle of July to end of August), the school, along with the city government education division, also held a two-day seminar on proper nutrition among school children. The seminar was attended by city education division officials, school nutritionists and dietitians, and members of the city elementary schools’ canteen staff. The aim of the seminar was to discuss the nutritional contents of the school lunch, to identify attractive lunch presentations for children to entice them to eat, and to discuss various ways in which teachers can communicate well with the students and parents regarding proper nutrition especially during the summer break. School-Parent and Parent-Parent Relationships One “predictor” of social capital, as theorized by Bassani (2003), is social interaction.



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Through this interaction, members of a structure of relationships communicate with others to mobilize or to access resources vital to their children’s education. The school-parent relationship, particularly in Japan, fosters inter-dependence and cooperation. Teachers require parents to be involved in the children’s education. To enhance this involvement, schools provide avenues where parents can interact with teachers and with other parents to exchange ideas, resources, expectations, and expertise. Parental participation is evident in four major areas, namely summer break, the PTA, undoukai (sports fest), and the renrakumou (contact network). Summer Break The school principal usually sends out letters to parents before summer break starts. In the school where I conducted my field study, the principal sent letters to the parents regarding school work during vacation, health advisory regarding swine influenza, and repair of the school gym. In her letter regarding the students’ school work during summer break, the principal emphasized the important role of the parents in accomplishing their children’s assignments. She also reminded the parents, through her health advisory, to always encourage their children to wash their hands and gargle as soon as they arrive home. Along with the letter, the school attached a daily temperature record so that parents can monitor their children’s health and ensure that their children will not get swine influenza. She also sent a letter informing the parents to discourage their children from playing in school due to the renovation of the school gym. In the class that I observed, the teacher provided the students with a calendar/diary where the students were to write their daily plan for the entire 40-day break. In one of the school sessions, the teacher asked the students to write their plan for the summer by filling out the planner. The students were also required to include in the plan their study and outdoor activity schedule and to check if they accomplished their plan of the day or if they have done specific tasks. The teacher then told the students to bring the card home and ask their parents to also fill in the calendar/diary to indicate their plans for their children. The students were also given their summer drill guide. This is a book which contains the activities or assignments that they have to accomplish and their corresponding instructions. Assignments are mostly on Math (sansuu), Japanese (kokugu), Society (syakai), and Science (rika). During summer, students are also required to update their



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diary, review kanji, do a book review, and make an independent project. The independent project (jiyu kenkyu) is somewhat similar to an investigatory (experimental) project. In this task, children can think freely of any project they like. As soon as the school reopened last September 1, 2009, the students handed in their assignments. PTA Association (hogoshakai) The school also holds a monthly PTA meeting to update parents with school activities, the progress of on-going projects, officers’ reports, and other matters. The PTA and the school also provide seminars and training workshops for parents. For example, while I was doing my field work, the parents had one seminar about the safety use of cellular phones and computers among school children. They invited a police officer to speak about the topic. The school also provides venues where parents can participate and learn. Parents are asked to fill up a volunteer form and choose their interests, expertise and experience from a wide array of fields. The Table 2 shows the different areas of expertise the parents may choose from. The information gathered is used to create a “talent bank” or database containing parents’ names and expertise which the school refers to when it needs the service of some parents. Table 2.0 Fields of interests and specific areas. Field Specific Areas Agricultural Activities Gardening, Farming Arts and Poetry Calligraphy, Haiku (Japanese poetry with

17 moras), and Tanka (31 syllable poem) Traditional Arts and Games Straw sandal making, festoon making (a

string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points ), bamboo-related craft making, and traditional games

Welfare Experiences Sign language, Braille, dog training Environmental Problems Garbage problem, recycling, paper

handicraft making, soap making, additive-free food making (organic)

International Understanding Children’s games of other countries, dances and music of other countries, food of other countries



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Peace Education Experience of overseas volunteer work, war experiences

Information Education Use of computer, Internet and Email Sanitation, Health and Well being Sports, problem of nutrition, drug-related

problem, The PTA also offers skills training to parents from time to time. Interested parents may register to attend any of the trainings listed in Table 3. Table 3.0 Fields and specific areas of skills trainining. Fields Specific Areas Homemaking Course Study Ironing, Sewing, Cooking, Arithmetic Study Multiplication up to 99, use of abacus,

calculation Japanese Language Study Reading, Listening, and Writing Regional Study History of the region (Kyushu and Oita),

field exploration (excursion) Aside from the “talent bank” and the skills training provided for parents, the PTA also encourages parents to volunteer in a number of regular school activities such as patrolling the streets before the first period of class. Parents take turns in the morning to stand at traffic corners in the neighborhood and hold a flag to provide safety and security to children. Occasionally, parents also read out stories to children during the reading time. Undoukai (Sports fest) Undoukai is a much anticipated sporting event among elementary school students in Japan. This closely resembles what is known as intramurals or sports fest in other countries. The undoukai brings people, young and old, together in a school-turned-community event. During this event, family members (parents, siblings, and grandparents) come to witness their kids play games and perform dances. Parents, like children, also prepare for this event, such as preparing an elaborate bentou or lunch box. The school also gives the parents and the teachers a chance to participate in the games. In the school where I conducted my field work, some parents enjoyed themselves by taking part in an athletics track event.



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Contact Network (renrakumou) This is a network-type list/directory containing the school children’s names with their corresponding contact information. The teacher provides each parent with the list to be utilized when they need to convey information to other parents regarding school-related matters. For example, in cases when classes are cancelled due to typhoon or outbreak of disease, the homeroom teacher will call one parent to inform him/her about the cancellation. This particular parent will then call another parent passing on the information until everyone knows the news.

Concluding Remarks To view parental involvement in the light of the social capital theory discourses, I would like to discuss the definitions of Bourdieu and Coleman and juxtapose them with school activities or practices aimed at fostering parental presence in children’s education, both at home and in school. According to Coleman, social capital consists of the “structure of relations” between and among actors and is “defined by its function” (Portes, 1998, p.5). In the case of parental involvement, three structures of relations are evident, namely: parent-teacher, parent-student, and parent-parent relationships. Each of the actors plays a pivotal role in enhancing the children’s learning. The Japanese elementary school where I conducted my field work created programs to enhance parental involvement. To achieve trust, cooperation, and inter-dependence between parents and teachers, the school provides venues where parents and teacher can share each other’s expectations through school orientation, home visits, PTA meetings and activities, and individual consultations. Besides these face-to-face interactions, the school also provided ways by which parents can communicate with teachers even without school visits such as the renrakucho (contact notebook) and renraku purinto (school correspondence/letters). The school also had various activities to enhance parent to parent relationships such as the undoukai (sportsfest), the renrakumou (contact network) and numerous PTA activities. Parents were able to establish good rapport with each other enabling them to build trust. A very salient feature of Japanese elementary schools is the renrakumou (contact network), which requires parents to call each other in cases when information has to be disseminated. The undoukai (sports fest) also provides parents a venue where they can interact face-to-face through a fun-filled activity.



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Coleman also proposed that social capital involves “obligations and expectations, the information flow capability of the social structure, and the presence of norms with attached sanctions.” These characteristics are very evident in the ways that Japanese elementary schools foster parental involvement in children’s education. The school expects parents to be actively involved in their children’s education by informally requiring them to check their children’s renrakucho (contact notebook). This mechanism, in a way, obliges parents to help their children accomplish homework and provide capital resources (material, cultural, and economic). During summer vacation, the school also counts on parents to help their children accomplish their tasks and to monitor their children’s health. The PTA activities such as seminars, the presence of a “talent bank”, and the renrakumou (contact network) allow parents to exchange information. The flow of information allow other parents to access resources, either in the form of material resources or knowledge, so that they will be capable of addressing the educational needs of their children. The school also provides avenues to parents where they will be informed about school norms and expectations, so that they can, in turn, impose the norms in their own homes. In Bourdieu’s definition, social capital is best mobilized through one’s interaction with other people belonging to the same network. It is characterized by one’s access to resources from other people. In the case of parental involvement, interaction of parents with school authorities and with other parents, allow parents to access resources (e.g. knowledge, information, materials) enabling them to help their children. Parents provide capital resources to children because of the school’s imposition. School activities also enhance social interaction and shared values. For example, parents are obliged to provide economic resources (in the form of cash) to their children as payments for learning aides and lunch. The school also requires parents to buy material resources for their children as teachers do not allow students to borrow from each other. Through PTA activities, parents are also able to access various capitals such as cultural (e.g. seminars on calligraphy, handicraft, field visit), and social closure - a form of social capital characterized by parents’ interactions with their children’s friends or with other parents (Portes, 2000, p.6), or through renrakumou (contact network), PTA meetings, and the undoukai (sports fest).



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Parental involvement in Japan is very evident because of the school’s strict imposition on certain aspects of children’s education and parental presence. However, there are issues regarding school-parent relationships in the Japanese elementary school which can be a good subject for future research. First, one definition of social capital is the existence of “trust” and that relationship should be of “mutual recognition and acquaintance.” However, a question should be raised here: do Japanese parents get involved in their children’s education or communicate with school authorities and other parents for the sake of compliance or as a personal choice based on personal expectations? Second, it is also important to look at how parents perceive school norms and practices such as the kateihomon (home visit) and the renrakumou (contact network) in terms of privacy issues. Third, it is also worthwhile to explore the parents’ perception, the extent, the degree, or the level of participation in these school activities and practices.

Acknowledgement The author is grateful to Dr. Robert Salazar, his dissertation supervisor, for his valuable inputs in developing this manuscript.

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